All Quiet on Set (Commentary)

Commentary

By: Andy Pleasants

When the average everyday hearing person hears the word “deaf”, what’s the first few things that pop in their minds? Disability, a loss of hearing, and hearing-aids are all examples. For as long as history can recall, those who are deaf have been stigmatized as being “broken” and “dumb”. Unfortunately, pop culture has done little to change that view. Now, before I go any further, I should probably explain a few things. People who are deaf either associate themselves with the terms deaf, Deaf, or Hard-of-Hearing. Some like myself even associate themselves with Deaf/HoH. People who are ‘lowercase deaf’ are not a part of Deaf Culture; they only view their deafness as a disability and a hearing loss. People who are capital Deaf, on the other hand, associate themselves with Deaf Culture, a community just like any other culture you know of. There’s a universal language in sign language, artwork, poems, music, photography, theatre, and more. Those who are in Deaf Culture don’t view being deaf as a disability – they view it as being a part of a culture they can connect to.

Now that I got the background information out of the way, you’re probably wondering why I told you all that. There’s a simple reason, and that reason is absence. To the average hearing person, the first word that is synonymous with “deafness” is “disability”. That’s built upon the perception that the ability to hear is somehow essential to living. The world we live in has a society in which the majority is hearing. The celebrities we see in the news are hearing, the superheroes in movies are hearing, the characters in our favorite TV shows are hearing – the list goes on and on and on. A lot more people than you’d think actually have some form of hearing-loss. Deaf Culture is a widespread and wonderful culture, yet no one even talks about it. Not a lot of people in the mainstream media and our society are even remotely aware of such a culture. Much like how there’s a clear need for representation for LGBTQ communities and different ethnicities in the media, there is also a dire need for representation for those within the Deaf community. Representation is very important for minorities because it allows people who don’t fit the “normal” or “pretty” category to connect with who they are and to be inspired. Hawkeye, a superhero in the Avengers, is an inspiring character – he can shoot a bow and arrows and has advanced combat training. What you probably didn’t know was that Hawkeye is deaf/hard-of-hearing and uses sign language, and has done so in both comics from the 80’s-90’s and in Matt Fraction’s present-day run. Why couldn’t Marvel simply given him that new and added dimension in the movies? It would make his character more unique and would let him reach out to a broader audience. You can also make the same case for Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games; she was Hard-of-Hearing in part of the first book, but they never added that in the movie.

All I know is that I would have loved to have seen someone like me up on the big screen, out in the news of pop culture, getting recognition. I’m tired of being labeled as “dumb” or “mute”. Society hasn’t changed their perception on deaf people, and that will continue to stay the same unless there’s more awareness and recognition for deaf people in pop culture. Deaf Culture is real and diverse. Countless people around the globe are growing up with hearing-loss or an inability to speak; they view themselves as dumb or worthless simply because of a loss of a sense, something they had no control over. To be deaf is to be a part of a culture. To me it isn’t a disability – I am not broken. In fact, it has opened so many new doors for me that a lot of others wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore. I embraced this on my own from being exposed to both the hearing and deaf worlds and connecting with Deaf Culture. What about all those kids who never see themselves being represented out there in the world nor have the access to be exposed to Deaf Culture? They’ll always believe they’re broken simply because to the rest of society, it’s all quiet on set.